The Genie Usage, Tips and Strategy ONLY Thread

[CBMom01]

I've read all 110 pages and watched the videos. Can someone confirm that this is both possible and a good approach for MK. This assumes day with 8:00 park open:

1. Buy Genie+ in advance or after midnight day of
2. 7AM: book first LL for (hopefully 11:00);
3. 10AM: Book 2nd LL (2 hours from park open/4 from booking of first LL). Let's say I get 2 PM on something.
4. 11AM: Tap into first LL and book 3rd LL - Let's say 3:00 pm
5. 1PM: Book 4th LL since it's been 2 hours since I booked my most recent LL. Let's say I get lucky with a 6PM window


Now, at 1PM I have
LL1 - Done at 11 am
LL2 - 2PM window
LL3 - 3PM window
LL4 - 6PM window

I realize I'm being optimistic about the return times being available, but in theory that's how it can work, right? Then at 3PM I could book another, at 5PM another...and so forth as long as they are available?

 

[Grasshopper2016]

I think your approach may not be possible. This simplest summary of the rules as they now operate (after the recent elimination of the double-stack) that I have seen is this one. Once you make a reservation . . .

you can book another after either:
2 hours goes by (2 hours after park open if the booking was made before then) OR you tap into your most recently booked reservation.

So on your time line, you can make LL1 at 7:00, and then LL2 at 10:00. But you can't make LL3 at 11:00 because the ride you just tapped into was not your most recently booked reservation (or, put differently, it was made more than two hours ago). Rather, you have to wait until 12:00 to make LL3. And then you can make LL4 at 2:00, and LL5 at 4:00, etc. If, at any point, you tap into your most recently booked reservation, you can make a new reservation at that point. And then the two-hour clock will begin anew. At least that's how I understand it.

 

[Miffy]

I think your approach may not be possible. This simplest summary of the rules as they now operate (after the recent elimination of the double-stack) that I have seen is this one. Once you make a reservation . . .

So on your time line, you can make LL1 at 7:00, and then LL2 at 10:00. But you can't make LL3 at 11:00 because the ride you just tapped into was not your most recently booked reservation (or, put differently, it was made more than two hours ago). Rather, you have to wait until 12:00 to make LL3. And then you can make LL4 at 2:00, and LL5 at 4:00, etc. If, at any point, you tap into your most recently booked reservation, you can make a new reservation at that point. And then the two-hour clock will begin anew. At least that's how I understand it.

Now I am completely confused. Is it in fact impossible to have 3 LLs reserved at the same time? What if I make all my LLs for my hopping park? For example, I RD MK and don't use G+ there, instead making all my G+s for Epcot:

7 am: ILL$ for Remy at 4 pm
7 am: G+ for Soarin' at 2 pm
11 am (if Epcot opens at 9): G+ for Nemo at 2:30 pm
1 pm: G+ for SE at 3 pm

No?

I still can't figure out why @CBMom01's approach doesn't work.

 

[Cotta]

I think your approach may not be possible. This simplest summary of the rules as they now operate (after the recent elimination of the double-stack) that I have seen is this one. Once you make a reservation . . .

So on your time line, you can make LL1 at 7:00, and then LL2 at 10:00. But you can't make LL3 at 11:00 because the ride you just tapped into was not your most recently booked reservation (or, put differently, it was made more than two hours ago). Rather, you have to wait until 12:00 to make LL3. And then you can make LL4 at 2:00, and LL5 at 4:00, etc. If, at any point, you tap into your most recently booked reservation, you can make a new reservation at that point. And then the two-hour clock will begin anew. At least that's how I understand it.

Ok just to make sure I understand! haha... But if the LL made at 12:00 is at 1:00 you could make another after tapping in correct? Since it is the most recently made?

 

[Disneymom1126]

Okay, I have read through this thread and my head is still not completely wrapped around this Genie+ and ILL business. I'm starting to work on plans for our trip in May. Here's an example day...do I have this figured out correctly? We won't be arriving to Epcot until about 3pm and I'm not 100% sure I want to purchase ILL, but for the sake of understanding this, let's just assume that I do decide to purchase. We are staying on site...

at 7:00 a.m. I can purchase ILL for Frozen and book a Genie+ LL for Test Track
at 9:00 a.m. I can purchase ILL for Ratatouille and book another Genie+ LL for Spaceship Earth after the two hour "cool down" period. This would put me at 4 rides that I have LL booked for before I even leave for the park right? or...

Do I have to wait for the second until after the park opening time?
Would I be able to book a third Genie+ LL two hours later at 11:00 a.m. or at that point do I need to wait until I use one?
I've noticed people saying you don't get to choose your times for the Genie+ LL...does that mean that I couldn't select times in the afternoon knowing I won't arrive until 3 and so really I need to wait until later in the day to start selecting the Genie+ LL selections so I get later hours for them?

Thanks!

 

[elgerber]

Okay, I have read through this thread and my head is still not completely wrapped around this Genie+ and ILL business. I'm starting to work on plans for our trip in May. Here's an example day...do I have this figured out correctly? We won't be arriving to Epcot until about 3pm and I'm not 100% sure I want to purchase ILL, but for the sake of understanding this, let's just assume that I do decide to purchase. We are staying on site...

at 7:00 a.m. I can purchase ILL for Frozen and book a Genie+ LL for Test Track
at 9:00 a.m. I can purchase ILL for Ratatouille and book another Genie+ LL for Spaceship Earth after the two hour "cool down" period. This would put me at 4 rides that I have LL booked for before I even leave for the park right? or...

Do I have to wait for the second until after the park opening time?
Would I be able to book a third Genie+ LL two hours later at 11:00 a.m. or at that point do I need to wait until I use one?
I've noticed people saying you don't get to choose your times for the Genie+ LL...does that mean that I couldn't select times in the afternoon knowing I won't arrive until 3 and so really I need to wait until later in the day to start selecting the Genie+ LL selections so I get later hours for them?

Thanks!

This is not quite accurate. at 7, you can book Test Track, Frozen and Ratatouille. You can then book another two hours after the park opens, or when you use Test Track, whichever comes first. If Test Track is in more than 2 hours after park opens, you can book another and then yes, you would have 4 set up.

 

[g-dad66]

Now I am completely confused. Is it in fact impossible to have 3 LLs reserved at the same time? What if I make all my LLs for my hopping park? For example, I RD MK and don't use G+ there, instead making all my G+s for Epcot:

7 am: ILL$ for Remy at 4 pm
7 am: G+ for Soarin' at 2 pm
11 am (if Epcot opens at 9): G+ for Nemo at 2:30 pm
1 pm: G+ for SE at 3 pm

No?

I still can't figure out why @CBMom01's approach doesn't work.

This will work, because at 1:00, you still haven't tapped into one of the rides yet.

The other example was different because the ride booked at 7am was tapped into at 11am. That's the difference.

 

[Grasshopper2016]

Now I am completely confused. Is it in fact impossible to have 3 LLs reserved at the same time? What if I make all my LLs for my hopping park? For example, I RD MK and don't use G+ there, instead making all my G+s for Epcot:

7 am: ILL$ for Remy at 4 pm
7 am: G+ for Soarin' at 2 pm
11 am (if Epcot opens at 9): G+ for Nemo at 2:30 pm
1 pm: G+ for SE at 3 pm

No?

I still can't figure out why @CBMom01's approach doesn't work.

You can have 3 or more LLs reserved at the same time. For instance, at 7:00 you can purchase 2 ILL$ and book one G+. That gets you 3 right there. Imagine that the G+LL that you book at 7:00 is for SDD at 8:00 p.m. (Sadly, this happens. On busy days, it looks like SDD runs out for the entire day in seconds.) In that case you could book additional LLs at 11, 1, 3, 5, and 7. If all of them have a return time at 7:00 or later, and if you booked your ILL$ return times that late, it is possible to have 8 LLs all stacked up at once!

When you make a G+LL reservation, you can always make another one: 2 hours later (or 2 hours after park opening if the booking was made before then) OR after you tap into your most recently booked reservation.

 

[Miffy]

You can have 3 or more LLs reserved at the same time. For instance, at 7:00 you can purchase 2 ILL$ and book one G+. That gets you 3 right there. Imagine that the G+LL that you book at 7:00 is for SDD at 8:00 p.m. (Sadly, this happens. On busy days, it looks like SDD runs out for the entire day in seconds.) In that case you could book additional LLs at 11, 1, 3, 5, and 7. If all of them have a return time at 7:00 or later, and if you booked your ILL$ return times that late, it is possible to have 8 LLs all stacked up at once!

When you make a G+LL reservation, you can always make another one: 2 hours later (or 2 hours after park opening if the booking was made before then) OR after you tap into your most recently booked reservation.

Let me try to understand this!

At 7 am I make a G+ for RideX at 10 am.
At 9 am I make a G+ for RideY at 11 am.
After I ride RideX at 10 am I can't make another G+ until after I ride RideY at 11 am since that's the most recent G+ I made? And what if RideY's G+ is at 7 pm? Do I have to wait until after I ride RideY at 7 pm before I make another G+ since that would be the most recent reservation I made?

Help!!!!

I guess because I would never set it up this way myself it makes no sense to me.

 

[Grasshopper2016]

Let me try to understand this!

At 7 am I make a G+ for RideX at 10 am.
At 9 am I make a G+ for RideY at 11 am.
After I ride RideX at 10 am I can't make another G+ until after I ride RideY at 11 am since that's the most recent G+ I made? And what if RideY's G+ is at 7 pm? Do I have to wait until after I ride RideY at 7 pm before I make another G+ since that would be the most recent reservation I made?

Help!!!!

I guess because I would never set it up this way myself it makes no sense to me.

I wouldn't set it up this way either! There are a couple of posters on this thread who understand the IT stuff, and they can explain why this makes more sense to IT people than it does to the rest of us.

As for your scenario . . . First, you won't be able to make your second LL reservation at 9:00. Remember that you can't make your second reservation until 2 hours after the park opens. So, for a 9:00 opening, that isn't until 11:00. So let's change the times a bit:

At 7 a.m. you make a G+LL for Ride X for noon.
At 11 a.m. you make a G+LL for Ride Y for 1 p.m.
After you ride Ride X at noon, you cannot make another G+LL until either 2 hours since you made your last reservation or your tap into Ride Y (your most recently made reservation).
So you will be eligible to make another reservation for Ride Z at 1:00. (Or, I guess, 12:55 if you tap into Ride Y during the early grace period.)

So now on to your second scenario:

At 7 a.m. you make a G+LL for Ride X for noon.
At 11 a.m. you make a G+LL for Ride Y for 7 p.m.
After you ride Ride X at noon, you cannot make another G+LL until either 2 hours since your last booking or you tap into Ride Y (your most recently made reservation).
At 1 p.m., you can make a G+LL for Ride Z (since it has been two hours since you made your last reservation).
If you tap into Ride Z before 3 p.m., you can immediately make another reservation for Ride A. If not (if, say, your Ride Z window doesn't open until 4 p.m.), then you can make a G+LL reservation for Ride A two hours after you made your last reservation, so 3 p.m.
And then, when you tap into Ride Z at 4:00, you can't make another reservation yet (because that wasn't your most recently made G+LL). You will have to wait until 5:00 (or when you tap into Ride A, whichever is earlier).

All of this can make your head spin. But if you just reduce it to the one simple rule, it is easier to get your mind around it: When you make a G+LL reservation, you can always make another one: 2 hours later (or 2 hours after park opening if the booking was made before then) OR after you tap into your most recently booked reservation.

 

[CBMom01]

I think your approach may not be possible. This simplest summary of the rules as they now operate (after the recent elimination of the double-stack) that I have seen is this one. Once you make a reservation . . .

So on your time line, you can make LL1 at 7:00, and then LL2 at 10:00. But you can't make LL3 at 11:00 because the ride you just tapped into was not your most recently booked reservation (or, put differently, it was made more than two hours ago). Rather, you have to wait until 12:00 to make LL3. And then you can make LL4 at 2:00, and LL5 at 4:00, etc. If, at any point, you tap into your most recently booked reservation, you can make a new reservation at that point. And then the two-hour clock will begin anew. At least that's how I understand it.

Thank you!

 

[reluctantredhead]

My husband was mostly in charge of Genie+/LL during our trip (I helped as a 2nd with the 7am bookings) and typed up the following observations about the trip we just got back from today. HTH someone!

We just completed a split stay 11/30-12/3 at the Boardwalk and 12/4-12/7 at the Poly and wouldn’t have had as good a time without the tips on this thread. Thanks to all who have provided such valuable information! A few observations from our stay:

• Getting up before 7a every day had a cumulative effect on us and we wished we had built in more mid-day breaks back at the hotel to compensate. (Note from me: The adrenaline from trying to book was real and prevented me from going back to sleep; husband was able to without too much difficulty though).
• Hotel WiFi simply cannot handle the load it is being asked to at 7a. We had much better results using the cel network (T-Mobile 5G, 2 bars at both hotels). Once the 7a peak was over, WiFi resort-wide was mostly fine, with exceptions that others have noted.
• For the longer term, planning when to go matters a lot more than it did during the FP+ days. After reading horror stories from people who went during Thanksgiving week, we definitely saw benefits from going during a less crowded period.
• We opted for the deliberate park hopping strategy and that served us well. Morning at Epcot paired with an evening at DHS and morning at AK paired with an evening at MK. Rope drop the first park and start stacking at the 2nd park as early as possible. While stacking didn’t work as well as it appears to have for others pre-Thanksgiving rule change, it still helped. Would help more if you could select your own return time after what is currently available, but the current system is what it is.

General observation from me: I strongly prefer the old FP+ system to the new G+/LL/ILL$ system. We found it difficult to mesh LL times with ADRs and opted to cancel many of the ADRs we'd made for later in the week because we found it frustrating to work them around available LL times. I also disliked not knowing when we got up each day whether we'd be able to ride something or not (yes, I understand that for most rides you can use the standby queues, but at our ages and for our current work/tiredness level, that's just not always an option for us). I feel like we accomplished quite a bit less this trip, with more exhaustion and stress. Pre-pandemic we'd been making 3-4 trips per year, but to be honest, I will think long and hard and really explore other options before I agree to go back. Makes me sad to say, and it doesn't mean we won't visit occasionally, but this wasn't the relaxing and mainly stress-free trip we needed right now.

 

[tsme]

I’m so confused. We buy Genie+ Then at 7am we can book one ride, but the return time has to be at 11am or later (if park opens at 9am), right? Then we can’t try to book another until 11am? And ride times have to be 2 hours apart? So if I’m reading this right, you can’t technically have any rides booked before 11am? Is this correct?

 

[elgerber]

I’m so confused. We buy Genie+ Then at 7am we can book one ride, but the return time has to be at 11am or later (if park opens at 9am), right? Then we can’t try to book another until 11am? And ride times have to be 2 hours apart? So if I’m reading this right, you can’t technically have any rides booked before 11am? Is this correct?

No this is not correct. You can book for as early as there are spots available. They all start at park opening. Some biok faster than others. You can then book another 2 hours after park opening or as soon as you use the first one you have booked. Whichever comes first.

 

[Pookie9922]

I’m so confused. We buy Genie+ Then at 7am we can book one ride, but the return time has to be at 11am or later (if park opens at 9am), right? Then we can’t try to book another until 11am? And ride times have to be 2 hours apart? So if I’m reading this right, you can’t technically have any rides booked before 11am? Is this correct?

The two rules of booking a LL
1) It's been 2 hours since you booked a LL (or 2 hours after the park opened, if you booked at 7am)
or
2) You tapped in on your most recently booked LL

You can book a ride before 11am. When you tap in, you'll be able to book another one immediately (under rule #2).
Some people have said this is the strategy they'll use. I personally will go with the old adage that I'd rather save LL for when lines are longer later in the day and wait standby in the morning before the lines get too long. That's why most of the scenarios people are suggesting have the 1st return window later than 11am. But you're welcome to book an early return, tap in and book another ride.

I hope Disney sees how confused they've made people! This is not a straightforward system, whatsoever!

 

[tsme]

Thank you.

 

[aimes0105]

There was a discussion way back around page 85 where dmunsil broke it down from a programming perspective that helped this click for me.

Basically the system is programmed with a simple eligibility rule that resets each time you book a LL.

When you book a LL a 2 hour timer starts, you either need to wait until the end of that timer or use that LL to reset eligibility. If you wait the two hours to book another, now a new eligibility rule is set based on that booking, and your earlier booked LL has no effect on future eligibility. You either wait the two hours from when you booked your new LL or you need to use it to reset your eligibility.

It is basically blind to any other LL you have booked. The only one that matters for eligibility to book another is the most recent booking.

Which is just another (more complicated) way of saying what I originally said a few pages back, but sometimes stating it differently helps.

 

[Miffy]

I wouldn't set it up this way either! There are a couple of posters on this thread who understand the IT stuff, and they can explain why this makes more sense to IT people than it does to the rest of us.

As for your scenario . . . First, you won't be able to make your second LL reservation at 9:00. Remember that you can't make your second reservation until 2 hours after the park opens. So, for a 9:00 opening, that isn't until 11:00. So let's change the times a bit:

At 7 a.m. you make a G+LL for Ride X for noon.
At 11 a.m. you make a G+LL for Ride Y for 1 p.m.
After you ride Ride X at noon, you cannot make another G+LL until either 2 hours since you made your last reservation or your tap into Ride Y (your most recently made reservation).
So you will be eligible to make another reservation for Ride Z at 1:00. (Or, I guess, 12:55 if you tap into Ride Y during the early grace period.)

So now on to your second scenario:

At 7 a.m. you make a G+LL for Ride X for noon.
At 11 a.m. you make a G+LL for Ride Y for 7 p.m.
After you ride Ride X at noon, you cannot make another G+LL until either 2 hours since your last booking or you tap into Ride Y (your most recently made reservation).
At 1 p.m., you can make a G+LL for Ride Z (since it has been two hours since you made your last reservation).
If you tap into Ride Z before 3 p.m., you can immediately make another reservation for Ride A. If not (if, say, your Ride Z window doesn't open until 4 p.m.), then you can make a G+LL reservation for Ride A two hours after you made your last reservation, so 3 p.m.
And then, when you tap into Ride Z at 4:00, you can't make another reservation yet (because that wasn't your most recently made G+LL). You will have to wait until 5:00 (or when you tap into Ride A, whichever is earlier).

All of this can make your head spin. But if you just reduce it to the one simple rule, it is easier to get your mind around it: When you make a G+LL reservation, you can always make another one: 2 hours later (or 2 hours after park opening if the booking was made before then) OR after you tap into your most recently booked reservation.

I'm copying this and sending it to myself. I think I understand this. But do I? Ack!!!

 

[Boardwalk III]

On your first statement in bold, how do you know that? Did you look at other people's phones to ascertain that what a family of 5 was showing is what you were showing as a solo user?

I find that hard to believe since the number of people likely impacts the time slot. Kind of like ADRs. If you change the number of people when looking for an ADR, different time slots pop up or even different restaurants.

In the old FP+ system, I would sometimes be able to get a single ride return time, but couldn't for the entire family. The new system likely works the same way. So I stand by my statement that it's likely easier as a solo than as a group.

I had a group of 6-8 mid November. I found with the larger group LL bookings, it would show me a time but when I clicked to the next page to book it would often show a couple of hours later on the booking page. I suspect this is due to the larger group size, and was frustrating.

 

[Miffy]

I wouldn't set it up this way either! There are a couple of posters on this thread who understand the IT stuff, and they can explain why this makes more sense to IT people than it does to the rest of us.

As for your scenario . . . First, you won't be able to make your second LL reservation at 9:00. Remember that you can't make your second reservation until 2 hours after the park opens. So, for a 9:00 opening, that isn't until 11:00. So let's change the times a bit:

At 7 a.m. you make a G+LL for Ride X for noon.
At 11 a.m. you make a G+LL for Ride Y for 1 p.m.
After you ride Ride X at noon, you cannot make another G+LL until either 2 hours since you made your last reservation or your tap into Ride Y (your most recently made reservation).
So you will be eligible to make another reservation for Ride Z at 1:00. (Or, I guess, 12:55 if you tap into Ride Y during the early grace period.)

So now on to your second scenario:

At 7 a.m. you make a G+LL for Ride X for noon.
At 11 a.m. you make a G+LL for Ride Y for 7 p.m.
After you ride Ride X at noon, you cannot make another G+LL until either 2 hours since your last booking or you tap into Ride Y (your most recently made reservation).
At 1 p.m., you can make a G+LL for Ride Z (since it has been two hours since you made your last reservation).
If you tap into Ride Z before 3 p.m., you can immediately make another reservation for Ride A. If not (if, say, your Ride Z window doesn't open until 4 p.m.), then you can make a G+LL reservation for Ride A two hours after you made your last reservation, so 3 p.m.
And then, when you tap into Ride Z at 4:00, you can't make another reservation yet (because that wasn't your most recently made G+LL). You will have to wait until 5:00 (or when you tap into Ride A, whichever is earlier).

All of this can make your head spin. But if you just reduce it to the one simple rule, it is easier to get your mind around it: When you make a G+LL reservation, you can always make another one: 2 hours later (or 2 hours after park opening if the booking was made before then) OR after you tap into your most recently booked reservation.

@Grasshopper: Your explanation is so incredibly helpful. I just studied it and I feel confident that I now understand how this works.

It seems like the best strategy is to book one's G+s either at the hopped-to park or to not go to the reserved park until later in the day, since, hopefully, by then, you'd have a stack of, say, 2 G+s and 1 or 2 ILL$.

Gee, good thing this doesn't cost even more than it already does. I feel like I'm going to have to buy G+ for every day of the upcoming trip that I'm not RDing. And buying ILL$ for FoP, RotR, and Remy.

Fortunately I don't mind getting up to reserve things at 7. I'm up at 5 anyway.

I seriously wish if WDW just wanted more money they would've let you book G+ and ILL$ in advance, a la the old FP+ system. It only works on the fly in an idealized scenario where everything is available all day . . . which is not how it's working.